Troops face axe over joke video
18/09/2006 10:26  - (SA)  

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Sydney - Soldiers serving in Iraq face dismissal after posting entries in a joke video-making contest on the internet, Australian Defence Force (ADF) officials said on Monday.

The video clips show soldiers brandishing their weapons and fraternising with Iraqis. One depicts a serviceman holding a gun to the head of a fellow soldier wearing an Arab headdress.

"It's disappointing that the isolated and inappropriate behaviour of a very few, probably one or two people, tarnishes the excellent work of the vast majority of the defence force," said Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, head of the ADF.

"There is no place in the ADF for members who behave in this way."

Trying to release stress

Former Australian SAS commander Jim Wallace said the soldiers in Iraq were trying to release stress through humour and pleaded for a lighter punishment.

"What you have here is an attempt at soldiers' humour," Wallace said.

"There's no doubt there should be punishment, as they do contravene the basic rules of weapon handling and also the cultural sensitivity training that soldiers have done, but it should be at a very low level in my view."

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